Hearts have sacked Craig Levein as manager.
A 1-0 defeat at St Johnstone last night proved to be the final straw with the Edinburgh side in joint bottom spot in the SPFL with St Mirren.
Levein has been a very vocal critic of Celtic and Scott Brown in particular, with some believing that he had developed an obsession with the Celtic skipper.
In February last year The Edinburgh News reported:
When asked whether 16-year-old Cochrane should get more protection from referees, Levein said: “I think everybody should get a little bit more protection from Scott Brown.”
The former Scotland boss added: “I was annoyed about that. I watched it back and I think Scott, after the game at Tynecastle when Harry bossed him, I think he decided he wasn’t going to let that happen. Listen, I’ve known Scott for a long time and he’s aggressive in the way he plays, but…”
In May Hearts reached the Scottish Cup Final but after going ahead were cut down to size by a double from Odsonne Edouard as Celtic completed the Treble.
Earlier this season Hearts lost 3-1 at Celtic Park with Levein’s crumb of comfort being to deny Vakoun Bayo of two goals, getting them registered as own goals to his own players.
Just after 4pm today Hearts announced:
The Board of Directors of Heart of Midlothian Football Club has today taken the decision to relieve Craig Levein of his first team managerial duties.
The Board would like to thank Craig for all of his efforts as first team manager. Craig has worked tirelessly and selflessly, around the clock, to try to achieve success, despite the many challenges with which he has been faced.
Craig will not return to his previous Director of Football role and, that being so, will step down from the Board. He will, however, see out his contract, which runs until the end of the season, working closely with the Executive Management Team in continuing to develop and improve the structure of the backroom and youth operations within the development. We are confident that his knowledge and experience will contribute massively to ensuring that, come the end of the season, he will leave the football department in a healthy and thriving state.
Effective immediately, Austin MacPhee will be in charge of first team affairs, on an interim basis, while the Board begins the process of recruiting a new manager. The new manager, and indeed the interim manager, will report directly to the Chief Executive.
This was Levein’s second spell as manager of Hearts, just like in his playing career he failed to win a single honour.
